Sweetness

My favorite folks :-)

Loyola Girls!

When I started Grad School at Loyola in 2008 I expected it to be an educational experience but not really a community or a place where I'd make good friends. I figured with grad school everyone would have their own lives, come in and out for classes, and that'd be it. Well, I've been wonderfully surprised to make some great friends there!! I am SO thankful for them. It has been amazing to have people who understand the calling to counseling and have the same kind of passion for helping people who are hurting. It's been amazing to have women around me who love God and have a burden for the mentally ill in the same way I do. SO grateful for them!

My friend Alicia who I got to work very closely with in our first year working as therapists! Not sure what I would have done without her when we both had no clue what we were doing!!

A Cosi date with Kate, Melissa, and Erin. Bad cell phone pic but these girls have been WONDERFUL friends to me over the last couple years! By God's design, we all have strikingly similar stories and struggles. This has allowed us to give each other some free therapy and encouragement that few people could, had they not been through something similar. What a blessing to have deep conversations and silly fun with these girls!

Kate and Melissa both graduated from our program this spring! They started when I did but moved much faster in the program than I have. They say being kid-less allowed them to finish so fast, so having 2 kids while in the program, I get a pass for still having another 6 classes to take :-) Seeing them finish and go through the whole licensing process gives me SO much hope that I too will actually be a licensed therapist!

My buddy Erin started the program a little later so she'll still be around at school with me next year :-)

Look forward to lots more time with these girls in the future! Who knows what God will do. I'm sure we'll be friends and colleagues long term-maybe even private practice partners! So thankful for the surprise of new friends who "get" me SO well!

Careful what you start...

Recently I found a bookshelf/dollhouse I've been wanting to buy for Ella on clearance so I was excited to buy it and build it! Chris was out of town so I got help carrying it and then thought it might be a fun project for Ella and I that afternoon.


It started off well. We were both excited, we gathered the tools we needed and Ella was very helpful in laying out all the pieces and piling up the trash and handing me tools. Then...it became clear that this was too complex and time consuming for Ella to really stay engaged the whole time.

Then, it became clear that at 8 months pregnant, I had no business thinking this would be a quick or easy project. Reaching anything in front of you is much harder with a basketball strapped to your midsection. Try it some time.

Then came our search for the drill which we could NOT find anywhere.

Ugh.

I made some progress....
While Ella sat in a chair behind me eating snacks and watching our new favorite Ella-Mommy show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"

I was determined to finish but it took 2 1/2 hours and my thumbs were numb from screwing in dozens of screws with NO drill. I bit off a little more than I could reasonably chew but the result was definitely cute. Next time I'll wait for the drill and Chris :-)

Sleeping Funnies

I found Ella asleep like this a few months ago. It's very possible she was praying since she's been asking to kneel like that and pray before bed. SO cute!

This one CRACKED me up. I went to check on Ella before I went to bed and found her fast asleep with stuffed animals tucked into her shirt like this! HILARIOUS. She told me in the morning she wanted them to have "a comfy blanket" like her so she thought this was a good way :-) Love it.

GG, Mama, Anne

My grandmother is a super wonderful, sweet, generous, funny, wise woman and loooooves Ella (and the rest of us of course). She writes us sweet letters all the time and signs them with all of the names we call her. For Ella "GG" (Great Grandma), for me "Mama," and for Chris, "Anne."

She's been in and out of the hospital lately but seems to be on the mend. We pray she's with us many, many more years so we can all continue to enjoy her. At 91 she is completely mentally "with it," still drives, thinks trials are things to be turned into laughter, and smiles and dances her way through everything. She's a joy to be around and we can't wait for our newest little one to meet her. She's an example to me in so many ways-I hope to sance my way through my 90's with such joy for life!

At the hospital a few months ago

At the hospital last week :-)